Flanders today
SEPTEMBER 7, 2011 Erkenningsnummer P708816
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Our interview with strip author Merho 10
Conflict for Open Monument Day 9
© Luis Jacob & Noam Gonick, Wildflowers of Manitoba, 2007
New incentives for new businesses 7
w w w. f l a n d e r s t o d ay. E U
35 years of Kiekeboe
Monumental
Up with start-ups
#196
f ree N E W S W ee k l y
Melody of the body
Music, movement and movies meet at the fifth anniversary of Contour
Lisa Bradshaw
T
wo weeks ago, international visual artists arrived in Mechelen to set up their installations for Contour, the city’s biennale of “art of the moving image”. Staged in abandoned breweries, former schoolhouses and other intriguing historical locations, Contour is a quirky, inspiring celebration of film and video.
Mission: southern Africa
But it’s also a little spooky. There is a reason we tend not to wander into dark, empty, unmarked buildings in urban areas – or, frankly, anywhere else. Even if we’re intrinsically drawn to what is just beyond our reach, we’re more convinced of the benefits of remaining safe and secure – and in the light of day. So when the Contour map leads you down an out-of-the-way
As kids go back to school, Flanders’ faces future teacher shortages
Anja Otte
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© Dirk Waem/BELGA
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Nobel prize-winning activist Desmond Tutu meets with Kris Peeters in South Africa
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A place for every child
• Kris Peeters returns from a whirlwind trip of trade and aid
outh Africa is a dream destination for many Flemish, but when minister-president Kris Peeters flies over to southern Africa, holidaying is far from his mind. Peeters, joined by business people, academics and health-care specialists, visited Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and Maputo, Mozambique, in just seven days last month on a mission that focused on both trade and aid. Flanders has many ties with southern Africa: both Mozambique and South Africa are so-called partner countries for development aid; there are economic links; and then there is, of course Afrikaans, a relative of the Dutch language. One of the events attended by Peeters, who is the economy and foreign affairs minister as well as minister-president, was the presentation of the first dictionary Afrikaans-Nederlands/Nederlands-Afrikaans. The dictionary, known as ANNA, was developed by professor Willy Martin of the University of Amsterdam, in collaboration with the University of Hasselt and South African universities.
street into the ground-floor room of a 17th-century house, in which you cannot see your hand in front of your face, you might feel the slightest bit hesitant. But just follow the light. Art of the moving image always features light, whether dim or flickering or brightly white. Follow the light and keep your eyes open.
Alan Hope
in Flanders went back to school last week, with the good Cnewshildren that every Dutch-speaking
child in Brussels found a place in a Flemish school. But the bad news is that schools are facing a catastrophic shortage of teachers in just a few years’ time. On 1 September, 1.12 million children in Flanders turned up for the new school year: 260,000 preschoolers, 410,000 primary school students and 450,000 secondary school students. The numbers at all levels are up on last year, in particular a rise of 8,000 in the number of preschoolers. In Brussels, some 38,000 pupils at all levels were accommodated
in Dutch-speaking schools, though not necessarily their first choice of school. In past years, the spring has been marked in the city by the sight of parents camping outside their school of preference to try to hook one of the few places open. That problem seemed to have largely disappeared this year. However, according to Jean-Luc Vanraes, president of the College of the Flemish Community Commission in Brussels, there are no places left for children of parents who are not Dutch speaking but still want to send their children to Flemish schools, despite up to 20 requests a day.
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